Philippines says South China Sea ruling not on agenda at ASEAN summit

Philippine President wanted to avoid confrontation with China and saw no need to press Beijing to abide by the July ruling that went in favour of the Philippines. An arbitration court ruling that rejected China’s claims to the South China Sea (Vietnam’s East Sea) and strained Chinese relations with the Philippines will not be on the agenda of this year’s Southeast Asian summit, a senior Philippine official said on Thursday. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated last month he wanted to avoid confrontation with China and saw no need to press Beijing to abide by the July ruling that went in favour of the Philippines. “The Hague ruling will not be on the agenda in the sense that it’s already part of international law,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique Manalo told reporters ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting chaired by the Philippines in April. “So we really can’t discuss the ruling. It’s there.” The July 2016 ruling rejected China’s territorial claims over much of the South China Sea. Beijing declared the decision as “null and void”, but called on countries involved in the dispute to start talks again to peacefully resolve the issue. What the 10-member ASEAN will focus on is the completion of a framework for a code of conduct to ease tension in the disputed waters, Manalo said. “We hope we will have a pleasant scenario during our chairmanship. We will talk to China in a way we will put forth our interest just as we… [Read full story]

The draft communique of ASEAN listed eight points related to the South China Sea, but made no mention of the July ruling. Southeast Asian leaders are set to avoid references to a recent arbitration ruling that undermined China's claims to the South China Sea, known in Vietnam as the East Sea, after omitting it from a joint statement at a summit this week over which Beijing's influence looms large. A draft communique of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) seen by Reuters on Monday listed eight points related to the South China Sea, but made no mention of…... [read more]

And Hillary Clinton welcomes South China Sea ruling, says it is critical to U.S. economy. An international tribunal's ruling denying China's claims in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) will "intensify conflict and even confrontation," Beijing's ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday. The ambassador, Cui Tiankai, also told an international forum in Washington that Beijing remains committed to negotiations with other parties in disputes over the vital trade route. In a case that was seen as a test of China's rising power and its economic and strategic rivalry with the United States, the Permanent Court of Arbitration…... [read more]

"Vietnam welcomes the arbitration court issuing its final ruling on July 12," foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said. Vietnam welcomed a ruling by the International Court of Arbitration court concerning the East Sea, internationally known as the South China Sea, on Tuesday, saying it strongly supports the peaceful resolution of disputes while reasserting its own sovereignty claims, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Vietnam strongly supports the resolution of disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means, including diplomatic and legal processes and refraining from the use or threat to use force in accordance…... [read more]

Global oil and shipping markets reacted nervously on Tuesday after an international arbitration court ruled against Beijing's claims across large swathes of the South China Sea, fuelling geopolitical tensions in the vital waterway. A tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, found China had breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines and had no legal basis to its historic claims in the South China Sea, a major shipping lane between Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The ruling will be seen as a victory by other regional claimants such the Philippines and Vietnam, but with China rejecting the ruling and saying its…... [read more]

The move came as China's construction of military infrastructures on its artificial islands in the disputed waters is nearing completion. Vietnam has raised concerns over the complicated developments in the South China Sea at a recent meeting between a regional bloc and the United States, the Foreign Ministry said. At the meeting on Thursday in Washington, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung emphasized the importance of peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation in the waters Vietnam refers to as the East Sea, the ministry said in a statement. The meeting is the first between foreign ministers of the Association…... [read more]